Sonic and Shadow in Equestria
by pyrus0zero
Summary: Sonic and Shadow have move in to Equestria with they loves. See how they do with their new lives in a new world. Sequel to Sonic and Shadow in Rainbow Rocks. Takes place in season 5 and on. Hope you all enjoy!
1. Ch1: The Cutie Map Pt 1

Just another bright and shiny day in Ponyville, all so known as the Twilight kingdom. It's ruler is Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship. It's over a week since the defeat of the Sirens and Sonic and Shadow have been adjusting to the new world.

As the mane six walked in the throne room with six throne, and a side chair for Spike, the saw Spike was sleeping in his. Pinkie bounced in her seat while Rainbow Dash took her's. Little did they know the Cutie Marks on the chairs started to glow.

"Let's go through this one more time," Twilight said rubbing her chin with her hoof.

Rainbow Dash sighed heavily and said, "We've been over it. like, a million times, Twilight. we found all six keys, defeated Tirek, and go this sweet castle. End of story."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Rainbow Dash on this one," A voice said to the side of the room. There was a blue pegasus with a dark blue mane and tail. He also had a gold ring as a Cutie Mark. This pony was formally known as Sonic the hedgehog. He crossed the room and nuzzled against Rainbow Dash. "It's best to just enjoy the moment."

Sonic started living with his marefriend, Rainbow dash. Rainbow dash had problems of sorting out her set of memories, but that's to sonic and a few spells from Twilight and Shadow help. Moving in was a big step for them, but they made it through. Although Rainbow Dash is constantly trying to get Sonic to join the Wonderbolts.

"I'm with Twilight," a voice came as a black unicorn entered the room. He had a black mane and tail with red highlights, white chest hair, gold band around his front hooves, and his Cutie Mark was a red tomoe with spikes on it. He was Shadow the hedgehog. He crossed the room and kissed Twilight and Pinkie on the cheek. "We should know exactly what we had to do here."

Shadow had moved in with Twilight, much to Pinkie's displease. At first thing were hard on Shadow, but having that's to be expected when having two marefriends. After a while, Shadow was able to handle things between the three.

Thanks to Princess Celestia, Sonic and Shadow were giving pony forms to better accommodate to the new world. Sonic a pegasus and Shadow a unicorn. Of course with the ability to change back and forth if they choose. It was very had for them to walk on all four and they both had other problems. Sonic had to learn how to fly and Shadow had to learn a new style of magic. After a while, and a few trips to the hospital, they got the hang of it.

"Thanks, Shadow," Twilight smiled at her shared coltfriend. "Even so why?"

"I don't know, Sugarcube," Applejack said as she took her seat. "It's just you and Shadow's new house and there ain't nothin' more to it than than."

"I still think Shadow should have moved in with me," Pinkie said in a low voice.

"Pinkie, we talked about this," Shadow said. "You're house doesn't have enough room for me to move in. besides I don't Maud would like that. Remember the mail we got after you sent one to her about us?"

"Mmm," Pinkie then thought back.

/ Flashback/

Shadow was sitting under a tree enjoying a cup of tea, when Pinkie rushed over to him.

"Hey, Shadow!" Pinkie jumped next to him. "Maud just send a post card to you."

"To me?" Shadow asked as he took it red magic. "Didn't you send her a latter about us in the last letter?"

"Yeah, I did. I wonder how she feels about us" Pinkie pondered.

"let's see," Shadow open the letter and read.

To Shadow,

This is a taste of what will happen if you hurt Pinkie Pie.

Maud Pie

"Huh? What do you think she meant by that?" Shadow looks over the letter and then ... suddenly a giant bolder fell on top of him. "Gggaaahhh!"

"I think that's what she meant." Pinkie said.

/Flashback over/

"I swear if I didn't have regenerative powers and wasn't near invulnerable, I would have be crushed," Shadow signed.

"I must say, speaking strictly on aesthetics." Rarity said sitting on her's. "There really doesn't need to be more to it. It's all simply divine!"

I agree with Twilight," Fluttershy said taking her spot. "And Rarity and Applejack and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie and Sonic and Shadow. Oh, and probably Spike."

"As princess, I've been chosen to spread the Magic of Friendship across Equestria." Twilight said walking in the center of the room near Shadow. So why would the Tree of Harmony want us to sit in a castle in Ponyville? It doesn't make any sense."

As soon as Twilight took her seat her Cutie Mark make the one one her throne shine brighter. Soon all the chairs shined and cracks moved from their chairs to the center. Sonic and Shadow quickly jumped out the way. At that moment, Spike chose to wake up and see what was in front of everypony. A giant map.

"Is that new?" Spike asked. "I like it."

/

Everypony and Spike stared at the map for a few seconds until Spike chose to walk on it.

"This is incredible!" He said looking over it all. "It's got all of Equestria!"

"Hi, Mom and Dad!" Pinkie said happily looking at her family rock farm. Suddenly Spike stepped on that spot and she grew very sad to the point of tears.

"There, there, Pinkie," Shadow said as he comforted her while holding her in his hooves. "I'm sure their all right."

Suddenly the mane six's Cutie Marks started to pulse. An image of the Cutie Marks flew together in one spot then moved to another somewhere in the mountains. Twilight used her magic and got Spike off the map.

"But if this is Pontville..." Fluttershy said looking at the point where the Cutie Marks started then to they are. "...why are our Cutie Marks over there?"

"I don't know." Twilight said. "But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The Tree, the chest, this castle ... and now the map. How can we not follow it?"

"Who know what?" Rainbow Dash said looking over the map. "There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in."

"If there's adventure, count me in too!" Sonic flying to her over the map.

"A chance to see more of this world, sounds like fun," Shadow added.

"Aw shoot, I reckon you're right,"Applejack said with a smile.

"Well, Shadow was planning on helping me organize my baking sheets, but ok!" Pinkie said smiling.

"Very well," Rarity sighed.

Suddenly everypony looked at Fluttershy smiling, before she said, "Um, maybe I'll just stay here with Spike."

"Awesome," Spike said with a foam finger and drink hat on. "Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball and trading hoofball cards and arguing about hoofball stats!"

"On second thought, maybe I'd better go with them," Fluttershy quickly said. "In case they need me."

"Looks like it's time for a road trip," Twilight announced.

Everypony started to walked out the room while Spike went on. "Well? Suit yourself. But he's got a Hock Fetlock rookie card I plan to sweet talk right into these hot little claws."

/

Sonic and Shadow met up and walked to the train station. As they walked the looked over Ponyville.

"Man, I'm overdue for an adventure!" Sonic said smiling.

"As much as I love this place," Shadow started. "I thinks it's good to get out of town for now."

"Yeah, we spent a week getting used to these new pony bodies."

Shadow suddenly stopped. "How about a bet?"

Sonic stopped and smirked to his brother. "And that is?"

"For this whole adventure, we both stay in pony form and the first to change back loses?"

"The stakes?"

Shadow thought for a moment. "Loser cleans the Twilight Castle for a week!"

"But that thing is huge!" Sonic yelled.

"I know." Shadow smirked

"Fine! May the best win!"

"I will, thanks." Shadow and Sonic continued to walked until something hit Shadow's front hooves. He looked down and saw a black fedora hat and lifted it up. "What's this?"

"Oh thank you, Shadow" Rarity said as she suddenly went to them. "It flew out of my boutique and I've been chasing after it, ever so much."

"Mmm." Shadow looked over the hat. "It is for some pony?"

"Why no. Now a days no pony wants to wear one."

"I'll take it then." Shadow put the hat on his head and gave her 3 bits.

"Why thanks you, Shadow. And to think I was gonna throw it away." Rarity took the money and left with Spike.

Sonic looked at Shadow with the hat and said, "Not bad."

/

The train ride there took a while and lead them all the way to the end of the tracks. Everypony got off and wait for Twilight. She looked at the map then lead them forward. Soon they came to a small town.

"That's it!" Twilight said. "That's the place on the map!"

Rarity looked over her hair and said, "Right! Let's get down there and find a spa."

Twilight teleported in front of her and said," Wait. We don't know why the map sent us here. We shouldn't just walk right in. It could be dangerous."

"Yesss!" Rainbow Dash and Sonic yelled.

"What's life without taking a few risk?" Shadow smirked look the the town.

"Stay behind me, everypony." Pinkie instructed. "I'm on it."

"Careful, Pinkie!" Applejack yelled to her cousin.

"I'll going with her," Shadow said as Pinkie leaned forward and rolled down while Shadow slid.

Pinkie then moved form rock to rock telling them to come closer while Shadow kept a lookout. At the last one, Pinkie was under a big rock and was crushed under it. Shadow stood on top of it and pointed forward while Pinkie made the rock move. Once they were close enough, they peeked over and looked over the town.

"This is where the map sent us?" Rainbow Dash said disappointed

"I was hoping for ... I don't know maybe something a evil ruler bent on taking over the world," Sonic said equally disappointed.

"Yeah!" Rainbow agreed. "It looks like the most boring place in Equestria!"

"That's just an ordinary village full of ordinary pony folk." Applejack said.

"It could certainly use a few more architectural flourishes..." Rarity commented. "...or any architectural flourishes."

"I think it's lovely," Fluttershy said at the town.

"I don't like it." Pinkie said seriously. "I don't like it one bit. I know smiles. And those smiles? They're jsut not right."

"For get the smiles; look at the Cutie Marks" Twilight said pointing at them. "

"I agree," Shadow said. "Something about this place seems off."

They all looked and saw all the Cutie Marks were equal signs. This made them uneasy and Shadow and Pinkie more suspicious.

"Ok, That's weird," Rainbow Dash said.

"Sure is," Sonic added.

They all got down and had a small meeting while Shadow and Pinkie looked at the village more.

"An entire village with the same Cutie Mark?" Twilight questioned. "How can that be?"

"I bet there's some sort of horrific monster behind it!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Or maybe some!" Sonic added.

"What makes you say that?" Twilight asked them.

"Cause fighting a horrific monster would be super awesome!" Rainbow dash answered.

"And fight a mad pony using mind control would be even awesomer," Sonic add. They then gave each other a hoof bump.

"I reckon we oughta just head into town and talk to some of the locals." Applejack said. "Find out waht's goin on."

"Agreed," Shadow said. "This is usually Sonic thing, but 'the faster the better!'"

"You know me so well, bro," Sonic said to Shadow.

"Great idea, guys!" Rainbow Dash said excited. "Let's go!"

"Those smiles are bad news news!" Pinkie said seriously.

"Yeah, but we have to find out what's going on," Shadow said as he and Pinkie followed the rest.

/

Once they got to the village, every pony suddenly stopped and 'smiled' at them. One by one a pony welcomed them. The girls and Sonic looked uneasy while Shadow and Pinkie looked around for anything suspicious.

"This must be the most pleasant place in Equestria!" Flutteryshy said happily.

"Welcome," a black pegases named Night Glider said to her causing Fluttershy to giggle.

"Ugh. Thanks a lot, map." Rainbow Dash said annoyed.

Sonic flew to her, put his hoof around her, and said, "I know how you feel, babe."

"Welcome!" a grey unicorn yelled to them. "Pardon my forwardness, but are you an alicorn?"

Twilight put on her best smile and Applejack said, "That there's the princess of Friendship!"

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place for friendship" he said

"What brings you to town?" a white earth pony asked.

"We're not entirely sure," Twilight replied.

"I see," the white pony said as the grey moved to give the others a 'smile'. "Well, a;; are welcome here in our little village. My name is Double Diamond and the is Party Favor."

"Howdy, Double Diamond." Applejack greeted. "I'm Applejack, and this here's Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, her coltfriend, Sonc, Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight and Pinkie's coltfriend and Sonic's brother, Shadow."

"Two?" Double Diamond said confuse.

"Yeah, it's tough," Shadow shrugged before putting both his hooves around Twilight and Pinkie. "But I wouldn't change in for the wrold."

"Aww, we love you too," Pinkie said as she and Twilight kissed him on both cheeks.

"And you all have your own unique Cutie Marks." Double Diamond said looking at them while Pinkie covered hers.

"If you don't mind," Twilight asked. "Has there been any sort of trouble here lately?"

"Trouble? Why, I don't think we've ever had trouble in our little village." Double Diamond answered.

"It's true," Party favor added. "You'll see.

"Perhaps you'd care to speak to our founder, Starlight Glimmer" DD said as he and Party Favor lead the way.

"I wish everypony in Equestria was as friendly as these ponies are," Fluttershy said as they followed.

"I don't know about that, Fluttershy," Shadow said. "Something about this place doesn't feel right. Pinkie?"

"I've got my eye on them." Pinkie answered. "Something's rotten in ... whatever the name of this village is that we're in right now."

Once they came to the center house at the far end of the town, DD and Party Favor both knocked on the door.

"Starlight," Double Diamond said as they the ponies inside. "We have some new visitors!

"Be ready for a fight," Rainbow Dash said.

"Always," Sonic smiled at her.

"Good, cause we don't know what's gonna come through that door."

The door in front of them open and it revealed a unicorn with a pink coat, purple and grayish blue mane and tail. She smiled to them and said, "Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here"

Sonic and Rainbow Dash groaned disappointed.

"The is Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, the brothers Sonic and Shadow," Double Diamond introduced.

Starlight looked over Twilight for a bit and said, "Forgive my bluntness, but I'm assuming it's Princess Twilight Sparkle? We don't get many alicorns around here."

"Yes," Twilight replied. "But twilight is fine."

"So! how did you hear of our little village?" Starlight asked.

"It's kind of a long story. Let's just say we found it on a map."

"Technically it's a tree-chest-castle-map." Pinkie suddenly said smiling before going back next to Shadow while giving Starlight suspicious eyes.

"Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you," Starlight said. "We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time."

"Say what?" Applejack questioned.

"Oh, indeed. That's what's so unique about our village, you see." Starlight said as she straightened a picture of a equal sign. "Around here, we don't flaunt our special talents because we don't have any special talents to flaunt."

"Is that why you all have those Cutie Marks?" Twilight asked

"Perhaps it would be easier to understand if i gave you a tour of the village."

 _[marching drum cadence]_

 _Starlight Glimmer: Heads high, ponies! Marching proud! [whistle blows] All together now! Every one of you! No pony left behind!_

 _Life is so grand in Our Town_

 _We're always filled with cheer_

 _We never have to look around_

 _To know that we're all here_

 _[Citizens]_

 _In Our Town, in Our Town_

 _We don't have to wait_

 _To find out that our destiny_

 _Is just to emulate_

 _Starlight Glimmer: Let's see those big, happy smiles!_

 _Life is a smile in Our Town_

 _Our cutie mark's the same_

 _Because we do not separate_

 _Ourselves by more than name_

 _[Citizens]_

 _In Our Town, in Our Town_

 _We dare not compete_

 _Winning only breeds the worst_

 _Ego-filled conceit_

 _Starlight Glimmer: You see? Now everypony wins!_

 _Life is a joy in Our Town_

 _We're all equal here_

 _No one is superior_

 _And no one shakes in fear_

 _[Citizens]_

 _In Our Town, in Our Town_

 _We work as a team_

 _You can't have a nightmare_

 _If you never dream_

 _[Starlight Glimmer]_

 _Other ponies argue_

 _Do you ever wonder why?_

 _When you think your talent's special_

 _You don't see eye-to-eye_

 _There's just too many differences_

 _That lead to disarray_

 _But when you learn to act as one_

 _It's like a holiday_

 _[Citizens]_

 _In Our Town, in Our Town_

 _We don't complicate_

 _When you learn to simplify_

 _Life is oh, so great_

 _Join in our utopia_

 _Come out of the dark_

 _Banded by equality_

 _By our cutie mark!_

As soon as the song was over Sonic and Rainbow Dash busted out laughing.

"You're kidding, right?" Rainbow Dash laughed. "Give you our Cutie Marks?"

"Y'all must be joking," Sonic laughed harder. "Just like that?"

"No way!" They said together.

"Rainbow Dash, Sonic, Don't be so rude!" Fluttershy yelled as best she could. "I don't think we should judge them. They all seem perfectly happy with their choice."

"Don't believe their smiles, Fluttershy!" Pinkie yelled in her face while Shadow tilted his hat down over his face a little and snuck some glaces around.

"I'm sorry, I guess we're just a little confused by all of this," Twilight said trying to make peace.

"We have no judgments here in our village," Starlight reassured while the villagers nodded. "Each of us was confused once as well, blinded by the false promise of our Cutie Marks."

"Woah, woah, waoh," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Is she for real?"

"I think so," Sonic answered.

Twilight gave them a dirty looked before turning back to Starlight and said, "When we were sent to this village, we assumed it was to help in some way, but ... well, it doesn't seem like you need any help."

"At least on the outside," Shadow said quietly so no pony heard him.

"Have you considered perhaps that you might have been sent here so we could help you?" Starlight countered. "After all, nopony has come to our village and wanted to leave. Why should you be any different?"

"Because we're not them," Shadow answered.

"Well this entirely your choice." Starlight smiled at Shadow before turning to the rest. "Please, enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well."

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Shadow said rudely.

"Shadow!" Twilight said surprised at her shared coltfriend.

Starlight gave Shadow a glace before saying, "Double Diamond, please help our guests with whatever they might need."

DD walked to them and said, "Of course."

He leaned forward to them and they all leaned back away.

"Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community," Starlight said as she walked away. "When the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gives up her Cutie Mark to join us, they'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish. However, that Shadow could be a problem."

/

Later Sonic Shadow and the mane 6 were walking through the town with ponies still welcoming them.

"A Cutie Mark is a representation of a pony's unique talents and skills," Twilight said. "How is it possible to..."

Rarity suddenly gasped and said, "What in the name of Equestria is THAT!?"

Everypony looked where she pointed and saw a rack with cloaks on it. The seller saw them and said, "Welcome. Care to sample some local fashion? We've got cloaks this month!"

Rarity gagged and then said. "Perhaps another time , good sir, thank you,"

They all left then found themselves at a table with everypony still 'smiling' at them. Shadow sat between Twilight and Pinkie. Rarity sat next to Pinkie. Then Applejack, fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and lastly Sonic.

"No wonder nopony's wearing anything," Rarity whispered.

"Cloaks? Really?" Sonic whispered.

"As somepony who used to wear them, they aren't that bad," Shadow said. "Perfect for harsh weather, but everyday? No thanks."

"Really, ya'll, they may do things a bit differently then we're used to, but that's no reason to be rude!" Fluttershy argued.

"No, the reason to be rude is that they all keep staring at us." Rainbow Dash said pointing that the villagers looking at them.

"Need something?" Double Diamond asked at a table far from them.

"Uh, no, we're good." Twilight answered before turning abck to her friends and coltfriend. "Fluttershy's right. If we're going to get to the bottom of why the map sent us here, we'll need the help of these ponies."

"I think we ran off to the end of Equestria before we ever knew what that map was!" Applejack yelled as the waiter came out and walked to their table.

"If we were at the end of Equestria, we'd be sitting on a big A!" Pinkie pie joked. "Heehee! Get it?"

Oh please, Miss Pie, this is hardly the time for jokes." Rarity said. "We've come all this way and for what?"

"Maybe you're right, but we here now," Twilight said. "And it sure feels like something's wrong."

"That and two bits'll get you a cup a cider." Applejack said.

"Personally I'd rather see this village burn down," Shadow said in a dark voice.

This caused everypony, but Sonic to gasp.

"How can you say that, Shadow?" Twilight asked surprised at her coltfriend.

"This place makes me sick," Shadow answered

"But this place is so nice," Fluttershy argued.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Shadow on this," Sonic said. "This place is everything we, Freedom Fighters, go against."

"Something about this place..." Shadow started. "...makes my blood boil!"

"But why?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, but I do know 1 thing." Shadow looked around before glaring. "If one more pony says 'Welcome!' one more time, I'm taking them back alley!"

"Welcome," A red colt said a table away. "Need anything?"

Shadow gave a big sigh before standing up. "Yeah, can you show what's behind that alley?"

"Shadow!" Twilight and Pinkie yelled as they and Sonic grabbed Shadow and forced him back down.

"I know you're angry, Shadow, but you can't beat up random ponies!" Sonic yelled.

"Let me go!" Shadow yelled tried to get the poor colt. "I'll rip that smile right off his face!"

"Is this a bad time?" the waitress finally asked.

"We shouldn't be bickering like this in front of our new friends," Fluttershy said. "Really, Applejack, you're almost as bad as Rainbow Dash and Sonic!"

"Don't drag us into this!" the couple yelled at her causing some of crowd to cover the fillies ears.

"And Shadow, causing fights?" Fluttershy said to the black unicorn.

"Whatever," Shadow said as he sat back down and put his hat back on.

"Is your friendship ending?" the waitress asked Rarity.

"Are you crazy?" Pinkie asked before saying while licking her lips. "We'd never let a disagreement get in the way of food!"

Shadow smiled and said, "She's right. We should talk this out, but after we get something to eat."

"Can't work on a empty stomach, right Dash?" Sonic smiled too.

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow Dash agreed.

"Ok, well. My name is Sugar Belle. What can I bring you?" The waitress asked as she brought up a notebook. "We have muffins..."

After she said that, she just stopped. Rarity and Applejack gave each other a confused looked while Fluttershy did the same with Rainbow Dash. Twilight was the first to recover and said, "Then I guess we'll have 8 muffins."

"Make that 16!" Pinkie yelled as the others looked at her. "What? I'm hungry."

"Come on, every pony, we've got to stick together," Twilight said them. "It doesn't matter what happened before; we're here now. And Shadow?"

"Yeah?" Shadow asked.

"Please try not to start any trouble."

"I'll try ... for you." Shadow sighed before putting his hoof around her. "Sorry, babe."

Twilight smiled and snuggled against him. "It's ok, sweetie."

"Hey!" Pinkie yelled at them. "I'm a part of this relationship too!"

Shadow smiled to her and put his other hoof around her while she snuggled against him too.

"Aw," Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy sighed while Rainbow Dash and Sonic put their hoofs close to their mouth and made a gagging sound.

"Glad we're not that lovey-dovey," Rainbow said while Sonic agreed.

"I guess your right," Applejack said. "And the sooner we figure out why, the sooner we can go home."

Suddenly a tray of muffins were slide on the table by Sugar Belle. She then said, "Forgive me for overhearing, but just a moment ago you were disagreeing. And now it sounds like you're agreeing."

"Uh-huh," Applejack said as she and the rest of them didn't see where she was going.

"Well, you had such differing opinions. And Cutie Marks."

"We have differing opinions all the time, darling," Rarity said.

"Its called individuality," Shadow added.

"But you look like you're friends."

"We are friends." Twilight said before kissing Shadow on the cheek. "Some more so, but a simple disagreement would't change that."

Double Diamond, still sitting from them, had his attention caught by what she said.

Sugar Belle looked at him worried before turning back to them. "I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time understanding. Different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to bitterness and misery. So, why aren't you bitter and..."

Before she could finish, Pinkie started choking on the muffin she bit on. Shadow patted her on the back to help her. Once she spit it all out, she notice they were all loking at her.

"You ok, Pinkie?" Shadow asked worried.

She gave them a smile and said, "Mmm ... good!"

"It's all right, I know I'm not a very good backer. At least i'm not better than anypony else in the village" Sugar belle understood. She looked back and saw DD looking angry at her as he stood up. "Well, I hope you enjoy our little village!" Before she walked away, she whispered. "Come inside before you go. Meet me downstairs."

She then gave a big 'smile' before leaving. DD then turned back to his paper. Little did they know Shadow saw the whole thing before he turned back to his pinkie marefirend.

Pinkie then started to pull on her tongue trying to get the taste of it while Shadow kept petting her back. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy watched them while Rainbow Dash said, "Ok, that was weird, too."

"No kidding," Sonic agreed.

"Let's all sit here and eat these muffins and act normal," Twilight suggested. "I think we;re being watched.

They looked around and saw everypony still smiling and staring at them.

"Ya think?" Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.

"No, not like that," Twilight said. "I mean somepony here doesn't want us talking to Sugar Belle."

Twilight tilted her head over to Double Diamond, who was watching them while eating a muffin.

I got an idea," Applejack said. "But you gotta eat all them muffins, Pinkie."

"Me?" Pinkie asked shocked. "Why me?"

"I could vaporize them," Shadow suggested for her.

"Yeah, we could do that!" Pinkie argued.

"We can't lets them see how strong ya are, Shadow," Applejack explained. "Besides Pinkie's got a stronger stomach than any of us and that filly in there might be our best chance at findin' out what in the hay is goin' on around here."

Shadow sighed. "Sorry, Pinkie, but she right."

Pinkie looked at Shadow sadly then to the muffins.

/

A few minutes later Pinkie was down to one left while Shadow held her for support. Her face hand turned green and she was sweating from how hard it was for her.

"Just one more and it will all be over," Shadow said comforting. Pinkie nodded, grabbed the last one, and forced it down.

"I can't believe you ate all our muffins, Pinkie Pie!" Applejack said loudly. "We'd best go inside and get some more!"

As they got up and went inside, Shadow helped Pinkie stand and got her in. Once they were in the saw a stair way to the basement. As they when down, Twilight said, "Nice work, Pinkie."

PInkie Pie bounced down to the bottom and said sadly, "I've accidentally eaten cardboard tastier than than."

"Here," Shadow said handing her a glass of water with some antacid tablets. "This will help."

"Where did you get that?" Sonic asked.

"I'm dating Pinkie," Shadow answered as Pinkie drank the medicine. "You really think I won't learn something form her?"

"Good point,"

"Hello?" Twilight called out. "Sugar Belle?"

"Thank you for coming," Sugar Belle said as she came out from the shadows.

"Why did you want us to come down here?" Twilight asked.

"So nopony could see what's about to happen," Sugar Belle answered as Party Favor and Night Glider came out from the shadows too.

As the villagers slowly walked towards them, the girls backed up while Sonic and Shadow got in front of them and readied themselves in case they needed to fight. Just before Twilight and Shadow were about to use their magic on them ...

"Are you really the Princess of Friendship?" Party Favor asked Twilight.

"Do you know Princess Celestia?" Night Glider asked her too.

"I love your Cutie Mark!" Sugar Belle said suddenly grabbing Pinkie's flank before reaching for Shadow's. "And you're is so dark and mysterious!"

"How can you be friends with different Cutie Marks?" Night Glider asked Rarity. "Don'y you end up hating each other?"

"Oh, look at this one! This one's great too! " Sugar Belle said grabbing Fluttershy. "I'd love to have my special talent back, even just for a day ... make something beside those disgusting muffins."

"So what's stopping you?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Go get your Cutie Marks back."

"Daydreaming is one thing, but you mean..." Party favor said before he and the others got worried. ".. actual having it put back on? That seems extreme."

"But aren't they a part of who you are?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure Starlight would like that," Sugar Belle said sadly. "She wants us all to be happy in our sameness."

"You all don't look happy," Shadow said.

"Shadow's right and besides how do you take somepony's Cutie Mark, anyway?" Twilight asked them.

"The Cutie Unmarking is a beautiful experience. Starlight uses the Staff of Sameness to magically take them away and replace them with these." Night Glider explained and then show the ponies their equal Cutie Mark.

"Staff of Sameness?" Sonic whispered to Rainbow Dash.

"Sounds like something from a bad comic," She whispered back.

"But nopony should keep you from your Cutie Mark," Twilight said confused. "It represents such an essential part of who you are!"

"Oh, we're not kept from them," Night Glider said explained. "They're in the vault, up in the caves. We can visit them any time we like to remind us of the heartache of a life with special talents."

Twilight and Shadow seemed intrigued by this. They nodded to each other and Twilight asked, "Can we visit this cave?"

"I don't know you'll have to take to Starlight," Sugar Belle replied.

"We will," Shadow said as he straightened his hat and headed upstairs while the others followed.

/

"I'm delighted you're interested in our Cutie Mark vault!" Starlight said as she lead the way with the ponies behind and Double Diamond in the rear. "We hope someday everypony in Equestria will make a pilgrimage here to our little village to have theirs removed, too."

As she went on about a 'perfect world', Twilight whispered to the others. "This must be the reason we're here."

"Pilgramaging?" Pinkie asked confused.

"No," Twilight replied. "Helping those ponies get their Cutie Marks back."

"Oh. Are you sure, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "Maybe they missed them a little, but even they didn't seem all that unhappy."

"What is with you!?," Shadow asked harshly at her causing her to shudder. "They are suffering on the inside and they know they can't do anything about it."

"Shadow, be nice!" Rainbow Dash ordered him.

"They can't..." Sonic continued. "...but we can."

"And beside why did they want to meet us in secret?" Twilight questioned. "And why did they ask us not to tell Starlight who told us about the vault?"

"Something's not right," Shadow said.

"Just through here!" Starlight said near a large cave as she lead them in. "Behold! Our Cutie Mark vault."

Everypony, but Starlight and Double Diamond gasped. In front of them was a huge case of Cutie Marks. There were hundreds of them all stored in a glass case. Between them and the case was a wooden staff with a twisted design.

"I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight said staring a the display.

"And here is the Staff of Sameness," Starlight said lifting the staff with her magic. "It was one of the great mage Meadowbrook's nine enchanted items. We are incredibly fortunate to have it here."

Shadow and twilight looked at the staff suspiciously.

"This is the tool that allows us to free ourselves form our Marks," Starlight continued. Suddenly she realized something. "I'm curious; how did the subject of the vault come up?"

"Oh, some ponies were telling us how they missed their Cutie Marks and..." Pinkie explained but before she said and more Shadow covered her mouth.

"Pinkie!" Shadow and Twilight yelled at her.

Starlight gasped and said before walking dangerously closer to them, "Were they! Well, it seems you inspire all sorts of free thinking, Don't you?"

"We certainly didn't intend to cause any disruptions to you charming little..." Rarity said trying to make peace.

"Good," Starlight interrupted her. "Lets's just make sure of that, shall we?"

Rarity backed away but was blocked by DD. Suddenly more villagers stepped out from the shadows and surrounded them.

"It's a trap!" Twilight yelled.

"You think!?" Shadow yelled as he and Sonic readyed themselves for a fight. Twilight teleported up and was about to shoot a beam and Starlight. Starlight pointed the staff at her and countered with a green beam. "Twilight, look out!"

Shadow teleported himself next to Twilight and pushed her out the way. Unfortunately, Shadow was hit by the blast. Starlight smiled senisterly was Shadow's body became straight. Shadow could feel himself getting weaker as his Cutie Mark was being taken from him. He groaned in pain, but while in the beams effects Shadow noticed something odd. Finally his Cutie Mark was taken and was placed with the others. Somehow though a equal Cutie Mark didn't show up on his flank.

"What?!" Starlight yelled confused before regaining herself. "Not matter. You all will join him and us soon."

Shadow landed on the ground hard with Pinkie and Twilight Rushing to their coltfriend's side.

"Shadow!" They yelled worried.

"Run," Shadow said weakly as he lose consciousness. Right before they could however, Starlight hit them all with the same beam. So one by one, all their Cutie Marks were taken and replaced with equal signs.

"Oh, I don't blame you for what you tried to do here today," Starlight said walking toward them. "You've spent your whole lives thinking those Marks are a goo thing."

"Give them back!" Twilight demanded.

"Well! Now you can spend the rest of your lives here with us." Starlight said ignoring what Twilight yelled. "And we'll teach you just how much better life can be without your Cutie Marks."

"I'd rather have Eggman as a roommate!" Sonic yelled rushing at her, but suddenly tripped and fell. "What?! My speed?"

"Starlight, what should we do with him?" Double Diamond asked pointing at Shadow.

"Mmm," Starlight thought before answering. "Take him to my cabin. I want to know why he did not receive his new Cutie Mark ... personally."

"Don't you dare touch him!" Twilight yelled as she and Pinkie moved in front of him.

"Yeah!" Pinkie yelled. "He our's!"

"Well later..." Starlight said as the villagers pushed the girls out the way and dragged Shadow away. "...he'll be mine!"

XXXXX

Sorry I took so long to release this. College is a killer and its been hard for me to work some time into my stories. After some time, I finally worked out a schedule and will try to update as quickly as I can. cya later!


	2. ch2: the cutie map pt 2

In the mountains in the middle of no where

"In sameness, there is peace," the P.A. said. "Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself form your Cutie Mark. Choose eqality as your special talent..."

While the P.A. continued, the ponies were occupying their time in their own way. Sonic and Rainbow Dash was trying to knock open the down. Applejack was pacing back and forth. Rarity and Twilight Sparkle were sitting. Pinkie was reading a book with just equal signs and Fluttershy was looking out the window.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash hit the door a few more times before tiring out.

"Hey!" Pinkie called out pointing at the book that only had pictures of equal signs. "This is pretty good!"

"Ugh. We've got to find a way out of here." Twilight said. "I can't take much more of that voice."

"Oh, this is horrible!" Rarity yelled with her mascara running.

Fluttershy walked over to Rarity and tried to comfort her by saying, "There There, Rarity, it's not so bad."

"Yes it is!" Rarity yelled at her then pointed at the windows. "Look at those drapes! I have no idea if they're tacky or not!"

"Well, I think they're nice," Futtershy said looking at them.

Rarity's Cutie Mark gave a dark glow while she teared up more. "So do I!"

Suddenly a bird sat on the sill chirping. Futtershy turned to it and said, "Oh thank goodness! Can you help use, little birdy?"

The bird chirped a bit while her Cutie Mark gave a dark glow. Fluttershy suddenly became worried as she didn't understand what the bird was saying.

"Go on, now. Fly away and get us help." Unfortunately the bird didn't understand her ether and then flew away. "Oh! Even tweets don't make sense anymore."

Sonic and Rainbow Dash were taking a break form hitting the door when Applejack suddenly charged at them. They quickly moved out the way and Applejack tried to kick the door. Only for her to get pushed forward and roll.

"Agh! This door's shut tighter than a ... summer of ... of piglets in..." Applejack tried to say while her Cutie Mark glows. "Shoot, I can't even make countryisms no more!"

"Ok," Sonic said. "We've lost Rainbow Dash's and my speed, Rarity's fashion sense, Fluttershy's understanding of animals, and Applejack's countryisms. Anything else?"

"I don't know, but maybe it'll be super fun to be all the same!" Pinkie Pie said happily before her Cutie Mark glowed and she became emotionless. "Sort of. More pleasant than fun, I guess."

"Shadow isn't gonna be happy about that," Sonic said as he stared at Pinkie as she went back to her book.

"Speaking of Shadow, why didn't he get one of these stupid Cutie Marks?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't know, but there's something odd about that staff," Twilight said. "I haven't studied Eastern unicorns as much as I should've, but I'm pretty sure Meadowbrook only had 8 magical items, not 9. And I don't remember any of them being a staff."

"Well, it looks like you'll have plenty of time to try to think about it," Applejack said as she laid down, tilt her hat over her face, and slept.

Twilight looked up and saying, "I hope you're ok, Shadow."

/

"Mmm," Shadow muttered as he shook his head and sat up. "Where am I?"

He looked around and saw he was in Starlight's house. He got up and tried to walked out, but was suddenly stopped. He looked down and saw he was chained to the wall. He tried to break the chain off, but he couldn't find the strength to. Whatever Starlight had done to him is messing with his connection to the Chaos force.

"So you're awake," A voice said next to him.

Speak of the devil.

Shadow turned and saw Starlight sitting in a chair watching him. Shadow sat down and asked, "What did you do to me?"

"What I did was free you from your Cutie Mark," Starlight answered. "But what I want to know is do you remember me?"

Shadow looked at her confused. "Remember you? I haven't even met you until yesterday."

Starlight's face darkened a bit after hearing that. She got off the chair and walked up to him. She put her hoof under his chin and forced him to look up at her. "You told me everything was gonna be alright! That things were gonna work out! But they didn't!"

Shadow didn't know what she was talking about. Shadow had never meet Starlight and for as long as he and Sonic were in Equestia, they never left ponyville. "What are you talking about?"

Starlight growled. "But I guess you were right. It did work out," She pushed him to the ground and walked to the window. She looked out to her village and took in the sight of her perfect world. "I have gave them true friendship."

Shadow glared at her. "This 'friendship' of yours is a sham!"

Starlight glared. "That reminds me, why hasn't your new Cutie Mark appeared? It should have appeared as soon as I took your original one."

"Come closer and I'll tell you." Shadow said. She did so and leaned in to him. Once she was close enough, Shadow gave a loud yell right in her ear. She cringed back and gave him a harder glare while he only gave her a smug smiles. "Would you like me to tell you again?"

She charged her horn as he went back to him. Shadow knew what she was about to do, but he wont give her any satisfaction.

/

Morning came and while every pony slept, Twilight spent the whole time thinking of a way to get out. She knew the quicker she got out, the quicker she could see if Shadow was ok. Suddenly she came up with a plan.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Twilight yelled waking every pony. "I know how we can get out!"

"Forget it, Twilight," Rainbow Dash sighed. "This door's not opening."

"And I'm afraid the windows are much too small for escape," Rarity added.

"But there is a third way," Twilight smirked.

"Of course! Eventually the wind and weather will wear down the walls until they start to crumble! then all we have to do is wait for a big enough hole to form and we can just walk out! It's the perfect plan!" Pinkie yelled until her Cutie Mark glowed. "I guess..."

"We don't actually have to escape," Twilight explained before she smirked. "They'll just let us out when they think we've accepted their philosophy."

"But they're never gonna believe we switched over in just one night," Applejack argued.

"There's one of us they might believe," Twilight smirked before turning to Fluttershy. So Everypony turned to her smiling.

Suddenly Fluttershy realized why and asked worried, "Ah! Me?"

"You've been saying how great this place is since we got here!" Rainbow Dash said in a 'matter-of-fact' voice.

"That's because everypony's so nice and their village is so pretty and ... and..." Fluttershy tried to argue, but quickly realized she couldn't. "Oh, you're right. They probably would believe me. I hate to lie to them. They've been so welcoming and friendly."

"You mean up till the point were they took our Cutie Marks, throw us in here, and trying to brainwash us?" Sonic said before Raimbow hit him in the shoulder.

Fluttershy put on a determined face and said, "Ok. I'll do it."

"WOO-HOO!" Pinkie yelled with happiness until she quickly lost it. "I mean, cool."

"But what do I do once I'm out?" Fluttershy asked walking up to Twilight.

"You've got to find a way to get out Cutie Marks back and find Shadow," Twilight said

Fluttershy gulped nervously before the intercom came on.

"Oh, good morning!" Starlight's voice said thought it before she came in. "I trust you had a pleasant night. This way, please. There are some friends who would like to see you. One you are very familiar with." She then lead them out of the hut.

"Gather 'round friends, gather 'round. We've come to ask if any of you are ready to join us," Starlight yelled. "There are so many friends to be made, once you realize you don't need your Cutie Marks or the talents that come with them."

"We have a welcome ceremony for new friends," Double Diamond said. "The whole village joins together to to build you own own cottage.

"Don't listen to them!" A voice yelled from behind the crowd. The villagers all turned and made a line to the pony who yelled. Once they were done, they saw Shadow being held in a stock in the middle of town. What made things worse for them was that Shadow looked a little beat up.

"Shadow!" the mene six plus Sonic yelled as they ran to him.

"Are you ok," Twilight asked looked over him. "What did they do to you?"

"I'm fine, Twilight. I've been through far worse. Starlight wanted to know why I didn't change." Shadow asured her. "Too bad she didn't like the answer give her."

"He won't give up even after he lost his Cutie Mark so I thought it be a good idea to make an ... example out of him," Starlight smirked at them.

"Why you...!" Twilight growled as she and her friend looked ready to tore Starlight apart.

Before they could attack her, Shadow yelled, "DON'T!"

"But Shadow..." Sonic tried to argue.

"Don't," Shadow said again in a low tone.

"See?" Starlight said. "This is one of the things that happen when one doesn't accept our ways and allow themselves to be different. So why not join us and learn about true friendship?"

"Not gonna happen!" Sonic yelled.

"And not interested!" Rainbow Dash added. "You may have them now, but we're going to get our Cutie Marks back!"

"Y'all don't understand , do ya?" Applejack questioned them. "You can't force nopony to be friends! It don't work like that!"

"Psst, Twilight!" Shadow whispered catching her attention. Twilight turned to Shadow and saw Shadow motioned towards him. Twilight slowly backed up to Shadow while everypony was distracted. Once she was close enough, Shadow whispered something in her ear.

"Please, join us!" A villager yelled.

"We love new friends!" Another yelled.

"It's all right, everypony," Starlight told them. "This is a perfectly normal part of the equalization process for those who haven't... quite seen the light yet. We'll try again tomorrow once you've had a bit more time to consider our philosophy!"

Starlight nodded to the guards as they led the mane 6 plus Sonic back inside. Twilight gave one final look at Shadow and saw him quickly wink at her. Before everypony went back inside, Twilight bumped Fluttershy.

"I'd like to join!" Fluttershy yelled before covering her mouth. They crowd was shocked at first, but quick became happy. In the back of the crowd, 3 curtain ponies glanced at eachother, while in the front, Starlight looked happy.

"Fluttershy? How could you?!" Twilight said faking horror.

"If giving up my cutie mark means I get to stay in this lovely village with these lovely ponies, then I'll do it." Fluttershy said taking her place next to Starlight, while they girls and Sonic went inside with Starlight closing the door.

"We have a new friend, everypony!" Starlight announced as the crowd cheered. and gathered around Flutteryshy.

"Now, there's one more order of business. It seems some in our midst might be... dissatisfied with the village life!" Starlight Glimmer said going back to Fluttershy's side with the crowd gasping. "Unfortunately, it's all too true, my friends!"

Starlight turn to Fluttershy.

"Will you kindly tell us the names of those friends who so desperately miss their cutie marks that they would sneak around in the shadows talking to strangers about it? Just so we can be sure your intentions are indeed pure."

Fluttershy gulped nervously.

"Um, I don't know who they were," Fluttershy said trying to convince Starlight. "Um, I'm sorry. I don't know your names and faces yet."

"Nonsense!" Starlight said not falling for it. "Obviously these ponies must have asked you directly. Kindly point them out!"

Party Favor looked at his friends nervously. He then knew what he had to do before Fluttershy creaked. He yelled as he brought himself to her and groveled at her hooves, "It was me! It was only me! But I only wanted it back for a little while!"

"And you're quite certain it was only you?" Starlight Glimmer asked as she brought his head up to force him to look at her

"I just wanted to remember what it was like," Party Favor said turning his eyes away from her.

"And no thought to the pain you'd cause your friends. Such selfishness," Starlight said making him feel bad while the villagers glared at him.

"IT'S NOT SELFISH!" Shadow yelled.

"How is putting one self above everypony else not selfish?" Starlight asked walking up to him and forced him to looked at her.

"You there!" Shadow yelled ignoring her ash he forced his head back to the pony. "Don't let her trick you! There's nothing wrong with being who you are. The only real normal is how you define yourself! Not how others define you."

"But..." Party favor started.

"When a Cutie Mark appears on you, it shows who you are and what you love. So tell me what did you love to do when you got your Cutie Mark."

"I...I..." Party favor said trying to think back while the other villagers started to do the same. "I loved to make balloons at parties. They made other ponies ... happy."

"That enough!" Starlight yelled before she zapped Shadow.

"SHADOW!" Twilight and Pink yelled concerned for him. Starlight turned to Party Favor and pointed at the cabin the others were in.

"I'm sorry, everypony! I never wanted to leave the village! I love all of..." Party Favor said as he went in and the guard closed the door. In the back, Sugar Belle and Night Glider started to question their town's ways. Back inside Party Favor hit his head against the door. "What was I thinking?! I can't believe I even considered asking for my cutie mark back."

"Don't worry. Fluttershy will have us out of here in no time!" Rainbow Dash reassured him.

"Didn't you see what just happened out there?!" Party Favor yelled a her. "Your friend has accepted our way! You will all accept our way! It's only a matter of time!"

"Wow," Sonic said. "Even Antoine has more nerves then you. And thats saying something."

"This guy's a barrel of laughs," Raindow Dash said.

"Laughs don't come in barrels,"Pinkie Pie said flatly. "They come from inside you as your body's response to delight."

"So what are we gonna do while Fluttershy's out there lookin' for our..." Applejack said before whispering. "Cutie Marks?

"We have to stay as positive as we can." Twilight Sparkle explained. "If Party Favor sees how much we really do like each other, even though we're all different, maybe we can use him to spread our message to the rest of the village."

"And what about Shadow?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Don't worry about that," Twilight smirked. "Shadow has his own plan."

Suddenly the intercom came on and Starlight's voice came through, "To excel is to fail."

"Let's hope they don't convert any of us first," Rarity said worried.

/

As Fluttershy walked through town, all the ponies welcomed her. She smiled and said, "Gosh, you really are the nicest ponies I've ever met."

"Come," Starlight said. "All new friends stay with me until their cottage is completed. Let's get you settled, and then you can enjoy all that our little village has to offer."

Before Fluttershy went inside Starlight's house, she turned back and saw Sugar Belle and Night Glider looking at her nervously. Fluttershy felt bad for them, but quickly smiled when she saw Starlight looking at her. Fluttershy went inside while Starlight took one last look around before following.

/

That night, Fluttershy climbed up the chimney. After getting the soot off her, she reviewed the plan, "Get the cutie marks back. That's all you've gotta do, Fluttershy. Just sneak through the dark up to that spooky old cave with the scary magical staff and get the cutie marks back."

"Okay, you're doing great. The cave's gotta be close now," Fluttershy told herself, but saw she only walked a few feet away from the chimney.

"Excellent work, Double Diamond," Starlight's voice said below her. Fluttershy looked down and saw what they were up to.

"Of course, but I don't understand why you wanted me to bring them here," Double Diamond said as Starlight brought the jars of Cutie Marks inside with him and Starlight going in too. "Fluttershy is one of us now. Surely she can be trusted."

Fluttershy looked in the window and saw Starlight lift up Twilight and Shadow's Cutie Marks. "This one belongs to a princess. It could be very important to our cause."

"But if Twilight Sparkle becomes our friend, then why do we care about this old Cutie Mark?"

"And this one belongs to one that still refuses our ways." Starlight put Twilight's one down and looked closer at Shadow's.

"But why did Shadow not receive his like the rest of his friends?"

"I don't know but I just want to keep them close until everything is... settled. You may go, Double Diamond."

As DD walked away, Fluttershy came out of her hiding spot and said," Oh, dear. How am I ever going to get the cutie marks back now?"

Suddenly Fluttershy heard a crash. Once she flew up to the second floor, she saw Starlight was all ret and a bucket rolling rolling away from her.

"Ugh! Starlight, you clumsy foal!" Starlight yelled at herself as she put the Cutie Marks down and toweled off.

Once she was dry however, Fluttershy saw she still had her own Cutie Mark. It was a purple and white star with two blue glimmering streams. Soon applied make up over it and place the equal sign over it. Fluttershy gasp at this, but Starlight heard her. She quickly ducked down before Starlight turned around. Starlight looked out the window and saw no pony. She then turned back around and went to bed.

Under her window was hid Fluttershy hanging from it. She let go and wondered what she should do with this new information. "Oh, no..."

/

The next morning, the villagers gathered again while the others were coming out their prison.

"I've got a good feeling about today! So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?" Starlight Glimmer yelled with Fluttershy next to her as she saw all of them looked sad and angry.

"Bite me!" Sonic yelled while Rainbow Dash snickered

"Aw, pity. Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!"

Right before they went back in Fluttershy yelled,"Wait! I'd like to lock them in."

"Marvelous, Fluttershy! That's the spirit!" Starlight said proudly before she called out to another. "Party Favor, will you join us, please?

Party Favor quickly ran out, through himself to her legs, and yelled, "I'm sorry, Starlight! I'm sorry, everypony! I've seen the error of my ways! I never want to look at my cutie mark again!"

"It seems there's cause for celebration after all!" Starlight said happily to the villagers while they cheered.

"They tried to break me! They wouldn't stop talking about how different they are, and that somehow makes their friendship stronger!"

"Such backwards thinking."

"But I didn't listen! I knew what they were up to, and I didn't listen!"

"Well done, Party Favor!" Starlight said proudly. "We welcome you back with open hooves!"

"Um, Starlight?" Fluttershy called out. "I think we might have one more friend joining us today."

Crowd gasps as Twilight stepped up. Starlight then asked, "Is this true?

"I-I think so," Twilight said trying to be convincing, "But I just want to be sure. If I agree to leave my cutie mark in the vault, I'll really be happier?"

"Just look around!" Starlight said falling for it. "Equality has given us more happiness than you've ever known!

"And you wouldn't let me just live here in the village with my old cutie mark?"

"Out of the question. A pony with a different cutie mark in our midst would destroy our entire philosophy. We are all equal here!"

"Then how do you explain this?!" Fluttershy yelled as she tried to splash Starlight with a bucket of water.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted!" Starlight yelled as a single drop slid down her flank, which washes some of her make-up. Party favor saw this and wriped the rest off with his cloak. "No! Get away!" Starlight desperately stepped way, but it was too late.

Everypony saw her real Cutie Mark.

The crowd gasps as they saw the pony they looked up to as their leader was lying to the the entire time.

"Wha... What are you looking at?!" Starlight said trying to turn the blame to the others, while they looked pretty smug. "They're the problem, not me!"

"How could you?" Party Favor asked devastated.

"You said cutie marks were evil!," Double Diamond said equally devastated. "You said special talents led to pain and heartache!"

"They do! Don't you see?!" Starlight pointed at the others. "Look at them!"

Sugar Belle stepped up and argued, "Then why? Why did you take ours and not give up your own?"

"I... I had to, you fools! How could I collect your cutie marks without my magic?!"

"But the staff has all the magic we need!" Night Glider said still trying to believe in what Starlight said.

"The staff is a piece of wood I found in the desert! It's my magic that makes all this possible! You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're better than everypony else if it weren't for my magical abilities!" Starlight confessed. "I brought you friendship! I brought you equality! I created harmony!"

"And so the truth comes out!" Shadow yelled standing right next to his stock.

"How did you escape!?" Starlight asked/yelled. "When I unmarked, you shouldn't be strong enough."

Shadow smirked "Simple. When you hit me with that spell, I noticed a few thing. The spell was coming from you, not the staff. If it was a magic item, then the spell would have traveled from it, not through. Also you're spell had two parts to it. The part that removes the Cutie Mark and the part that adds a new one that suppresses one's abilities. By passing my own power through the magical flow, I was about to disrupt your spell. You took my Cutie Mark, but that was it."

"So that's how you did it!"

"I could get out at any point in time I wanted, but I wanted to make sure every pony here saw the truth. You speak of being equal, but you stand above them. You should practice what you preach!"

"He's right!" Double Diamond yelled in agreement. "You lied to us!"

"So what? E-Everything else I said is true!" Starlight trying to justify herself. "The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!"

"Except for you," Party Favor argued while Starlight got anger with her horn flaring up.

Twilight Sparkle stepped and said, "Everypony has unique talents and gifts, and when we share them with each other, that's how rea—"

"QUIET!" Starlight yelled at her.

"You can't have a cutie mark, Starlight! Either we're all equal, or none of us are!" Sugar Belle said standing up to her.

Soon the other villagers followed her lead and gathered around Starlight. Starlight backed up from them, only to be meet the Mene 6 plus Sonic glaring at her. Thinking quickly, she used a barrier spell to make room so she could run to her cabin. Once she was in, she shut the door shuts.

Shadow walked toward his group, while Twilight asked, "Are you ok, Shadow?"

Shadow moved his neck around, popping out the joints, and answered, "Yeah. Just a little stiff from being in there for so long."

"Come on!" DD yelled. "Let's get our cutie marks back!"

"Yeah!" Everypony shouted in agreement as they ran for the vault.

Rainbow Dash flew up and said, "Come on! Let's go get our cutie marks!"

"Our cutie marks aren't in the vault!" Fluttershy said.

"They're in there with her," Shadow said pointing at Starlight's home.

/

At the vault, the villagers were hitting the glass case trying to get their Cutie Marks back.

"Stand back, everypony!" Double Diamond with the staff in his mouth.

He then throw it as hard as he could at the case. Once it hit, it made a small crack. Soon the crack became bigger and broke the glass. With the glass gone, all the Cutie Marks flew back to their owners. Double Diamond looked around, with his returned snowflake Cutie Mark, as the rest returned to how they were before they lost their marks. For those who were not in the cave, the Cutie Marks flew on their way to them, while the villagers left the cave to help the Mene 6 plus Sonic and Shadow.

/

"Even without my cutie mark, I can tell this is beautiful!" Rarity said looked around as watched.

Starlight Glimmer looked out her window in hate and said, "They think they can come to my village and disrupt my life? Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious cutie marks!"

She gather all the Cutie Marks up and used her magic to lift her bed to reveal a hidden passage. Outside, Applejack and Rarity tried knocking down the down, but to no avail. Suddenly they hear a whistle and looked up. Above was Double Diamond, Night Glider, Party Favor, and Sugar Belle.

Night Glider flew up and yelled, "Stand back, everypony!"

She then flew down and crashed in to door. Once the door was down, everypony rushed in and looked around. While Shadow was looking around, he noticed his hat on the table. He levitated it with his red colored magic and placed back on his head with a smirk. Fluttershy went to Starlight's room, where she had last seen their Cutie Marks. She opened the door and peeked inside, but ...

"They're gone!" Fluttershy yelled looking at the counter. "They were right over there!"

It was then she and the others notice the bed flipped over. They looked closer and saw the hidden path. They then went in and soon found themselves in the mountains.

"Look!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Everpony looked and saw Starlight Running along a path.

Party Favor looked at his Cutie Mark and remember he had his talent back. So he blows up some balloons and tied them together and made a pair of binoculars.

"She's headed for the pass!" Party Favor said. "If she makes it into those mountains, we'll never find her!"

Pinkie Pie took the balloon binoculars and said, "These are amazing!"

"There's a whole network of caves up there! Your cutie marks will be gone forever!" Sugar Belle yelled in fear.

"Then let's get moving, y'all!" Applejack yelled as the ran after her.

Sonic and Rainbow Dash Tried to go as fast as they could, but the marks were still suppressing their abilities. Forcing them to be very slow as everypony passed them up. Even the mane 6, who were just trotting, and Shadow, who still had his speed, but was still tired from his time with Starlight.

"Oh come one!" Sonic and Rainbow Dash yelled angrily as they didn't like being slow.

As Starlight Glimmer ran, she looked back and saw the villagers following her. She then asked, "Are you all so willing to give up everything because of these strangers?!"

She then blasted the snow above making it fall on Night Glider. As Night Glider came out, Sugar Belle yelled, "We gave up everything for you, because we thought you were our friend!"

Back with the Mane 6 plus Sonic, Rainbow Dash yelled, "I can't believe we have to count on these other ponies to save our cutie marks!"

Twilight Sparkle turned to her and said, "If we hadn't come here to help them, they'd still be living under her rules! Now it's their turn to help us!"

"And I know they can do it!" Flutteryshy added.

"We just need to have faith in them," Sonic said staring forward.

As Starlight crossed a stone bridge, Sugar Belle remembered she had her talent back. Using her magic, she picked up some snow, formed it into a pie, and throw it while saying, "My newest recipe – snow pie!"

The snow pie was so hard and dense enough, that when it hit Starlight's cart, it broke. Cause Starlight to fall and Cutie Marks go over the edge. Starlight quickly used her magic to levitate them before they hit the ground. She brought them to her and quickly crossed the rock bridge. See the others catching up to her, she fire a beam from her horn and destroyed the bridge.

"Will you guys be ok?" Shadow asked DD.

"We'll be fine." Double Diamond replied. "Go!"

Shadow ran faster and jumped over the huge gap. Once he was on the other side, looked back to the villagers to see them stop at the edge. DD and Sugar Belle gave Shadow a nod while Shadow nodded back and continued on.

Party Favor thinking quickly used his talent once again, started to blow up more balloons and tie them together to make a new bridge. Night Glider then pushed it into place as the others bounced across.

The Mane 6 plus Sonic looked over and saw the other were still chasing Starlight. Rainbow Dash getting worried yelled, "She's gonna get away!"

"Not if Shadow and the others stop her," Sonic reassured her.

Shadow came to a stop when he notice something in the snow. DD notice this too and stopped next to him. What was there surprised him as he said, "Whoa! These are my old skis! This is where I first met Starlight!"

"Maybe you can reminisce another time!," Night Glider said as she flew to them "She's almost to the caves!"

Double Diamond suddenly got an idea. He turned to her and asked, "Feel like an air drop?"

"You're gonna need these," Shadow said lifting up snow gear. "They were right next to the skis."

/

Starlight could see the caves coming up, but suddenly Night glider flew over her while holding DD. Once she dropped him, he skied over the snow causing it to fall on Starlight.

"Chaos spears!" Shadow said as he shot the jars.

Once the marks were free they flew back to their owners. Shadow's mark returned to him and the others final catching up saw their marks fly to them. First was Twilight as she was raised up and up true self returned as she gentle flew herself down. The others soon followed as they were happy to be whole again.

"Yee-haw!" Applejack yelled kicking her back legs over and over again. "Finally, I can buck like a five-bit snake herder in an Appleloosa ranch house again!"

"And you got your countryisms back, too!" Fluttershy noticed.

"YES! I'm never going slow again!" Sonic yelled before changing into his hedgehog form and taking off.

"Wait for me!" Rainbow yelled as she and the rest followed.

As DD stopped himself to rejoin his group, Starlight dug herself out the snow. She looked around and saw the Cutie Marks were gone. She then looked the the villagers and Shadow in anger. The villagers took steps back while Shadow held his ground. She charged up her horn and blast them with her magic.

Right before the beam could hit them Twilight flew beside Shadow while he changed back to his hedgehog self. Using their combined power, they formed a barrier to block Starlight's attack. Once the beam was done, Starlight was shocked to see everypony unharmed.

Before she could possess this, Sonic ran circle around her. Then he ran over the snow above, making more fall on her. Sonic stopped next to Shadow and said, "Way pass cool!"

"Wh– I studied that spell for years! How can you—" Starlight said after she dug herself out again confused before turning to Shadow and Sonic. "And you two! What in Equestria are you!?"

"I studied magic for years too! But what I didn't know then was that studying could only take me so far." Twilight explained to her as the rest of her friends caught up. "Each of my friends has taught me something different about myself! It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me! I never would have learned that I represent the element of magic without these five! And I certainly wouldn't be here to stop you now!"

"The same with me," Shadow stepped up next to Twilight. "My name is Shadow the hedgehog. I was made to be perfect, but even with all my power, I knew I couldn't save everyone. It was only after I joined the Freedom Fighters that I learned, I didn't have to take that burden alone. It was thanks to learning to accept others that I became stronger..." Shadow turned to Twiligh, Pinkie, and then Sonic and smiled. "...and not only that but I was able to meet them."

"As for me," Sonic smiled, "What you see is what you get, just a guy that love adventures. I'm sonic the hedgehog. I'm the leader of the Freedom Fighter and it's our job to stop people or ponies like you."

"Spare me your sentimental nonsense!" Starlight yelled. "I gave these ponies real friendships, they never could've had otherwise!"

"How do you know that?!" Double Diamond yelled taking off his helmet. "You never even gave us a chance!"

"You didn't give them friendship!" Shadow yelled charging his fist. "All you did was brainwash them! What you gave them was slavery."

"Quiet!" Starlight shouted as she was about to shot Shadow.

Shadow quickly took his hat off and threw it at her. Starlight quickly vaporized it, but while she was distracted, Shadow shot a chaos blast at her. Starlight formed a barrier to protect herself, but was forced back.

"You can't win, Starlight," Shadow sighed. "Also I really liked that hat."

Starlight got madder at that and charged her horn again. This time, however, in a bright flash. She was gone.

Rainbow Dash flew up and yelled, "She's getting away!"

"We'll never find her in there!" Double Diamond added.

"We'll find her!" Sonic said. "Come on, Shadow!"

Before he could run in, Shadow stopped him and said, "No. She'll show up again sooner or later."

"But..." Sonic said.

"We just have to hope that when she's had a chance to think it over, she realizes that you all have taught her something." Twilight reassured them

"It's you who have taught us something," Party Favor said going up to Twilight's face. "We all came to this village because we were searching for something missing from our lives. We thought Starlight had given it to us, but now... now it seems it was in front of us all along. It's us!"

Twilight Sparkle was happy to hear this and asked, "Does that mean you'll stay in the village?"

Night Glider smiled, "It's our home. I'm not going anywhere."

"This is a chance for all of us to get to know each other again for the very first time!" DD said happily.

"And I finally have a chance to bake something besides terrible muffins!" Sugar belle added.

With that every pony and hedgehogs laughed.

/

The next morning, the whole town was throwing a huge party. Party Favor was giving gifts, Sugar belle was giving good food, and DD was getting to know the villagers all over. Just outside the town, the mane six plus Sonic and Shadow watched with a smile.

"Now those are real smiles," Pinkie said happily.

Shadow wrapped his arms around Pinkie's neck and said, "its good to have the real you back pinkie."

"Did I go somewhere? Did I forget to being back gifts? What about..." Before Pinkie could continue Shadow silenced her by pressing is lip against her's.

Suddenly the Mane six's cutie marks started pulsing.

Applejack was the first to notice and said, "I'll never get used to that."

"I think it's divine." Rarity said looking at her Cutie Mark.

Fluttershy turned to Twilight and asked, "Does that mean that the map is calling us somewhere else?"

"I have a feeling it means our work here is done." Twilight answered.

"Good caused I really need to feel the wind," Sonic said still exited to have his speed back. "I'm gonna run all the way back home."

"Speaking of home," Shadow said breaking apart from Pinkie. "Don't forget about our bet."

"Bet?" Twilight said confused. "What bet"

"Sonic and I had a bet. Who ever could stay in pony form wins and the loser has to clean the castle for a week." Shadow explained with a huge smirk while Sonic lowered his head. "Look we get a servant to help around the house."

"Looks like you were right, Twilight," Applejack said. "The map did have a reason for sendin' us here. We brought real friendship to these here ponies. Guess that's why you're the Princess of Friendship."

Twilight smiled at her and said, "But the map didn't send me. It sent us. You're a part of me, all of you. And there's no doubt you're a part of my mission to spread friendship too."

"Technically the map sent you girls," Sonic smirked. "Me and Shadow just tagged along."

"Oh be quiet and come here," RD said as everypony got in a group hug.

"This feels like an ending!" Pinkie said suddenly. "It doesn't have to be an ending yet, right? 'Cause that Sugar Belle can bake!"

"Maybe we can stay a little while longer," Twilight smiled. "Come on."

"Finally! Some real food!" Sonic yelled as they started to head into town.

"Shadow dearly, wait!" Rarity said suddenly causing everypony to stop.

"What is it?" Shadow asked confused.

"Sonic told me how sad you were after your hat was destroyed. So with his help ..."

"Here!" Sonic yelled as he handed Shadow a new fedora.

"Wow! Thanks." shadow said as he took the hat and put in on. "How does it look?"

Sonic chuckled a little. "it looks ... great"

Shadow turned to show the rest of the girls, but as his back as to them, they started to laugh too. "What is it?"

Every pony but Shadow was trying very hard not to laugh. Sonic put his arm around Shadow's shoulder and brought him in town, followed by the girls

"Don't worry about it buddy!"

Little did Shadow know that on the back of his hat read the word ' property of ' with a picture of twilight and pinkie pie's cutie marks.

/

 **please leave a comment and let me know how I'm doing and what do you think of the chapter.**


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